Best Day Ever
by lizziekins4
Summary: A rainy day and a stranded visitor just may lead to Peeta Mellark finding love on what he thought was sure to be his worst day ever. Rated M due to possible future content.


**A/N: I posted this drabble as part of the D12drabbles Serendipity Prompt on Tumblr. It's completely unbeta'd so all mistakes and nonsense belong to me. That's all I own.**

Best Day Ever

The rain hasn't let up for days and the streets of Capitol City resemble something more like rushing streams of black ink than paved streets, and sewer drains bubble and gurgle with water that is forcing its way down their gullets. Peeta Mellark has spent the entire day serving up baked goods and sandwiches to soaking wet pedestrians who slosh about his storefront leaving puddles of water in their wake. At the end of the day he makes his way to his front door, stepping around the slick spots and inspects the awning that covers the front stoop. It's sagging under the weight of the water and he uses the handle of the mop he's holding to push up forcefully on the bulging underside, driving the water up and out onto the sidewalk. The force of the tumbling water hits the concrete with a resounding crash and splashes back to soak the bottom of his pants, saturating his shoes.

"Damn! That sure as hell backfired," Peeta grumbles under his breath. He heads back inside closing and locking the door behind him. He rakes his fingers through his ashy blonde hair, rubs his forehead with his hand and pulls down on his face. "Ah! What a day!" He breathes out hard while rubbing at the scruff that peppers his chin every day at this time. But then he pauses and chuckles lightly as he scans the empty room. "And now I'm talking to myself…that's just perfect."

Peeta looks down lifting one foot and then the other a few times. He grimaces at the spurting noises coming from his sneakers and turns to walk backwards, mopping up the wet footprints he leaves behind. The water has thoroughly soaked down into his socks and the soles of his shoes make that infuriating squeaking noise with every step he takes. He can't stand it and kicks off his shoes and removes the wet socks. The bottom of his pant leg falls back onto the top of his foot. It's heavy and cold now so he stuffs his socks down in his shoes, gently tosses them as far as he can into the back of the store and bends down to roll up his pant leg.

He looks up suddenly, the jarring of the front door commanding his attention when someone tries to open it. He doesn't stay open late on weekdays, no later than four o'clock. His establishment is located near the business district so he mostly serves breakfast and lunch to those who either work nearby or are traveling to and from the local airport. He had experimented with later weekday hours but found them to be highly exhausting and unprofitable. This area of town is almost always deserted by this time each day and the profitability of his business lies soundly in the baked goods and special order cakes that he specializes in. He only keeps late hours on the weekends. It's easy enough to staff the place with four or five local college kids that he can trust to look after the place whenever they don't have class and on the weekends. After all, he does try to keep up the pretense of some sort of social life, as mundane as it may be.

In fact, he'd be on his way to dinner at the home of his best friend Finnick and his wife Annie right now if Rue and Thresh hadn't suddenly needed the afternoon off to travel with their parents for an out-of-town funeral. Rue had been a mess when she called him earlier in the day, since it meant that she was effectively calling out for her and her brother, leaving Peeta stranded with no afternoon help. But Peeta was more than willing to stay so the grieving family could leave as soon as possible but made a mental note not to schedule the brother and sister pair on the same afternoon again. Soon, Annie will be making her way to the dining room table with his and Finnick's favorite dish in hand. Just one more reason he closes by four o'clock. Even when disaster strikes, like today, he can still manage to head out no later than five-thirty. Annie's a good cook and likes to have her family at the table by six o'clock each night and that includes Peeta more often than not. Peeta's no slouch in the kitchen, but after a day like today, a warm meal that he didn't cook is just what he needs.

Owning a bakery means that Peeta's been awake since three o'clock this morning and he's exhausted. Annie works the store front for him during the day and helps with the next day's prep work until it's time to pick her son up from school. But Peeta got stuck doing the bulk of the prep work and closing by himself. He was just completely worn out but it had made no sense to call in one of his other part-time employees for just a few hours.

Annie had offered to come back but he was more interested in the lamb stew simmering in her crock pot at the time. Now all he wants is to go home, warm up some leftovers that Annie had sent home with him earlier in the week and crawl into bed because he has to start this all over again tomorrow morning… _dark and early!_ Peeta makes a mental note to text his Dad later to see if he wants to come in the morning and help with the next day's set up.

"Crap, forgot to turn the closed sign _again_." Peeta jumps up and heads toward the front door where he can see a tall man; at least a head taller than him, with dark hair filling the doorway. His back is turned to the glass of the door and Peeta can see that he's dressed for business. He's soaked through and his dark hair is dripping water onto his saturated overcoat. He pulls his collar up around his neck and his shoulders slump forward when he peers down the street. Peeta figures that he's contemplating which way to head next but doesn't want to leave the shelter that the tiny awning provides just yet.

Peeta opens the door. "Sorry man, I guess I forgot to turn my closed sign." The man startles, turns and takes a lurching step back into the torrential downpour. His grey eyes go wide and his hand comes up to cover his heart. "You alright man?" Peeta asks as he reaches out to steady the man effectively pulling him back under the canopy. It's not offering much protection anymore since the water is starting to seep down through the bulge that has formed again and the man steps to the side to avoid the droplets that form and fall in fat drops to the ground.

"Jesus! You scared me." He straightens up a little and breathes out with a huff. "I wasn't expecting the door to open. Sorry, I was just looking to see if another taxi was coming by here before heading back into the monsoon you guys seem to be having." He looks down the street again.

Peeta's glances down the street, "This time of day you'll probably have to call one but you're welcome to wait inside if you want." Peeta steps back from the door and motions inside.

"Nah man, I don't want to impose," he says as his eyes land on Peeta's bare feet and quirks his eyebrows slightly.

"Really, its okay," Peeta says but wiggles his toes self-consciously. "It'll take some time for a taxi to arrive and I feel bad leaving you outside in this mess. I'm going to be here for a little while still." Peeta beckons the man inside again. "Besides, I think the rain has gotten the better of us all today."

"Thanks," The man says with a relieved sigh. "You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I'm Gale, by the way, Gale Hawthorne." Gale holds out his hand and smiles.

"Nice to meet you Gale, I'm Peeta Mellark." Peeta offers up his hand to return the greeting. "You work around here?" Peeta makes a point to know the local business men in the area and he doesn't recall ever seeing Gale in the area before. Peeta releases Gales hand and motions with his arm, inviting Gale to sit at one of the small tables, which he does.

"No, no," Gale says with a shake of his head and sighs as he settles down on the cushy chair. "I'm supposed to be catching a flight to New York but it's been delayed _again_." Peeta remembers hearing on the news that storms throughout the area were wreaking havoc on airline schedules.

"New York? I hear it's pretty messy up there right now."

"It is. I'm supposed to be there for the next two weeks doing some training and I've already missed a whole day now." Gale sighs and he looks back out at the rain which actually seems to have lightened up a bit. Peeta looks out to see that the heavy dark gray clouds have shifted some and are being chased by clouds that are a slightly lighter shade. "My girl…uh…my friend dropped me off last night and I stayed at a hotel close by since my flight was supposed to leave around six-thirty this morning. I had already checked out and made it to the airport before I found out my flight had been delayed." Gale presses his fingers to each side of his nose and squeezes his eyes shut. "I've been wandering around that place all damn day and just had to get out of there, you know?"

"Oh yah, I know. Your day sounds just about as exhausting as mine," Peeta says with a rub to the back of the neck. "Your friend couldn't come get you?" Peeta asks, treading lightly over the word 'friend'.

"No, we live about two hours southwest of here. It was enough of an imposition to have her drop me off last night." Gale looks down and mumbles something to his phone. He looks back up and Peeta can see the exhaustion that's etched onto his face. "My flight will _supposedly_ leave tonight by eight, no later than nine but I thought I'd grab a bite before heading back to the airport. I've already had two meals there today," he says with a heavy sigh.

Peeta can't help but feel genuinely terrible for Gale. He's been stuck all day in a city full of strangers; he's clearly having some sort of girl trouble on top of travel problems and ends up on his stoop looking like a drowned rat. With a new resolve he turns and starts to walk away from the table.

"I'll tell you what, you call and arrange for a taxi to come get you in an hour or two. I'll make us a couple of sandwiches." Gale moves to protest but Peeta interrupts him with a wave of his hand. "No, we've both had horrible days and besides, I have beer in the back," Peeta says while throwing his thumb over his shoulder indicating the back of the bakery. He can't help but notice that the word beer has peaked Gale's interest and continues. "It's not like the odds have been in our favor today and you really look like you could use that beer. I know I could."

"Beer is so damn expensive at the airport," Gale says with a half-smile.

"Yes it is, my friend…yes it is." Peeta turns away with a chuckle but hollers back, "I'll be right back!"

A couple of hours later Peeta locks the front door and watches Gale get into the waiting taxi. They had spent the time eating and chatting like they may have been old school friends reuniting after a few years. They chatted about sports and discovered that they were both huge fans of the same hockey team, the Mockingjays. They reminisced about their respective college experiences, discussed their current careers and Gales new promotion which required him to travel for a two week training class. Inevitably, the tide of their conversation turned to women and they both grew somewhat quiet.

Peeta had dated but not really found _the one_ and Gale was convinced that he had found _the one_ but he or she didn't seem to be so sure anymore. Peeta learned that Gale and his friend or girlfriend were from a small town called Panem and were avid hunters. Gale had constantly referred to her as Catnip and when Peeta chuckled, questioning the name, Gale grimaced but shared that he and _Katniss_ had been friends since they were kids and it was a childhood nickname that she hated but couldn't quite shake either. Peeta still wasn't sure about the status of their relationship and was curious, but didn't feel like it would be appropriate to ask.

Gale was a really good guy, close in age to Peeta and if he lived in the area, would probably end up being Peeta's friend. When Gale's taxi did finally arrive they had been so caught up in their conversation, they hadn't even noticed and Gale had to rush out suddenly with a promise to stop by on his way back home in two weeks. Peeta promised to show him around Capitol City and take him to see a Mockingjays game. Gale agreed as long as he got to buy the beers and could take Peeta deer hunting if he ever made his way down to Panem. The two parted with a firm handshake and a brotherly pat on the back.

After shooting off a _please come help me tomorrow_ text to his dad, Peeta was finally heading for the back door, when he heard his cell phone ring. No wait, it wasn't his cell phone. It was the exact same ringtone but he could feel the weight of his phone as he patted the side of his pocket and the ringing wasn't coming from there. It was coming from the front of the bakery. He wound his way to the front of the dark store and scanned the area. The ringing had stopped which left Peeta standing in the middle of the room squinting into the darkness. He was just making his way to the light switch when an alert sounded. Someone must have left a voicemail or sent a text but the sudden noise helped Peeta zero in on the phones location. He found it wedged down in the chair where Gale had been sitting just about an hour ago.

Peeta took Gale's phone in his hand, swiping the front with his thumb to activate it. The light that emanated from the home screen was a stark contrast to the light that was filtering in from the street lamps outside and Peeta had to look away briefly while his eyes adjusted. When he looked back down he found himself gazing into a pair of piercing grey eyes that caused the breath to leave his lungs in a gasping wheeze. These weren't Gale's eyes but the coloring was similar, these eyes were far more intense and rested in the face of the most astonishingly beautiful woman his blue eyes had ever beheld. Peeta's eyes locked onto hers. He could tell that the picture had not been posed, no she wasn't the type. She was one that had to be photographed in the wild and unaware so that her natural countenance could be fully appreciated. Peeta couldn't stop staring and couldn't stop himself from reaching out to trace the line of the coffee colored braid that adorned her slender shoulder.

 _God, I hope you're his sister or cousin anything except his girlfriend._ Peeta thinks to himself and thanks his lucky stars that he and Gale had seemed to hit it off real well. Maybe, just maybe Gale liked him enough to introduce him to this ravenously beautiful creature whoever she may be. Gale's phone alerted with a text message that instantly brought Peeta out of his reverie causing him to bobble the phone in his hands. When he had a firm grasp on the phone again he looked down to see that Gale had received a new message and it had opened up while he was performing his little juggling act. The picture in the text bubble was different but it was definitely the same woman whose likeness graced the home screen. He glanced at the top of the display for the contact name: Katniss Everdeen.

Peeta hissed and couldn't help but roll his eyes to the heavens, "Oh, come on! You couldn't give me at least one little break today…really?" The face staring back at him was definitely Gale's Catnip. The odds were definitely not in his favor today. He looked back down to the phone and couldn't help but read the message that had displayed there.

 **Katniss [Just Now]:** You can't keep ignoring me. I'm sorry if I hurt you.

Peeta groans inwardly to himself. _This is so wrong_ he thinks, but his thumb swipes the screen again and the messages scroll up before his eyes. The message thread isn't long and he wonders if it may have been recently erased. He peruses a few until one in particular catches his eye.

 **Gale [Sun 8:22 PM]:** Just think about what I said…please

 **Katniss [Sun 9:50 PM]:** I told you, I can't think about anyone like that right now. It's just too much.

 **Katniss [Sun 9:52 PM]:** You know I care about you…I just don't want to risk our friendship

 **Gale [Sun 11:15 PM]:** We can't talk about this unless you answer your phone

 **Katniss [Sun 11:34 PM]:** I'm sorry…I just can't do this right now.

 **Katniss [Sun 11:56 PM]:** Please stop calling. I need to go to bed and so do you.

 **Katniss [Today 10:22 AM]:** I heard about the storm and delays. Are you OK?

 **Katniss [Today 2:18 PM]:** Who's not answering their phone now?

 **Katniss [Today 5:06 PM]:** See?This is exactly what I was talking about.

That was the last message before Peeta picked up the phone. God, he felt like such a louse for snooping and promptly closed the message string out. Now he felt ten times worse for Gale. If Katniss were within his grasp, he imagined he'd be heartbroken if she didn't return his affections. The phone alerted once more indicating that the battery was getting low and Peeta closed the screen. If he drove out to the airport right now, Gale's plane might still be on the ground. He doubted that he could make it in time to actually get the phone into his hands.

Peeta started to make his way into the back of the bakery again when the phone started ringing again. It was Katniss. Shit, what should he do? _Really Peeta, what should you do? You should ignore it and put the phone away. She shouldn't be surprised when the call doesn't get answered_. But then the thought of hearing the voice that matches that face becomes too much of a temptation and Peeta answers.

Peeta takes a deep breath and brings the phone to his ear. He opens his mouth to speak but his heart is pounding so loud in his ears, he can't seem to form words.

"Gale? Gale? Oh thank god, are you okay?" The voice on the other ends is soft and a little raspy. Peeta wonders if she had been crying or if that was just her natural timbre. All he knew was that her voice lighted upon him with a soothing cadence that shook him to his very soul.

"Gale?" She asks again and Peeta has to shake himself a bit to bring him back to his senses.

"Oh…uhm…no, Gale left his phone here earlier today. I'm…uh…Peeta…" Peeta knows he sounds like a complete ass right about now and has to think of a way to save this conversation.

"Who?" Katniss asks.

"Peeta, Peeta Mellark…Gale had dinner at my bakery earlier and left his phone behind." Peeta takes another steadying breath.

"Oh," Katniss says and Peeta can hear the disappointment in her voice. He's known about her for less than five minutes and the thought of her upset is already killing him.

"He left here about an hour ago to head back to the airport. They promised him his flight would leave tonight before nine so he's probably on his plane by now." Peeta clears his throat again. "That should have him landing in New York around eleven. " Peeta pauses again waiting for some sort of reply before he trudges on. "Do you know where he's staying in New York?"

"Oh, uhm…no..." Katniss sighs. "He didn't mention it when I dropped him off at his hotel last night. He just said he'd call me when he got settled."

"Well, I'm sure he'll try and reach you as soon he gets settled in then." Peeta runs his hand through his hair and grasps at the back of his neck. "I know I would."

Katniss laughs. She laughed! Peeta bites down on his bottom lip while pumping his arm to his side. She laughed and he felt like his heart would beat right out of his chest.

"You would, would you?" Katniss asks again but her voice sounds guarded now.

"Oh yah, from what Gale told me, it sounds like you two are…close." Peeta winces as the word 'close' leaves his lips.

"Oh really," Katniss says and Peeta is trying to ascertain if she's annoyed or pleased. "Just how much did Gale tell you?"

"Enough to know that if I called you Catnip right now, you might reach through the phone and try to strangle me," Peeta says with a smile and hopes it has the desired effect. It does and Katniss laughs again. Her laugh has turned to music in his ears. He can't help but stand there with what he knows is a shit eating grin right now.

"Well you're definitely right about that," Katniss says but then pauses. "Just how much time did you guys spend together today?"

Peeta takes a seat in the chair that Gale had occupied earlier and fills Katniss in on the details of his encounter with Gale; how he happened to end up in Peeta's bakery, how they had shared sandwiches and a couple of beers over old college stories commiserating over their equally hellacious day. Peeta finds that Katniss is amazingly easy to talk to. She's smart and witty, a little sarcastic but he soon discovers he likes sarcastic and he likes it a lot. He's also noticed that his mood has brightened with each passing minute he's had her on the phone.

"Wow, it sounds like you two really hit it off," Katniss says through a chuckle. "That's not an easy thing to do with somebody like Gale."

"Oh, I don't know. It seemed easy enough." Peeta wondered what a statement like that could mean but continued. "Gale seems like a real likeable guy."

"Oh, he is! Don't get me wrong," Katniss' voice rose slightly and he could just picture her furiously waving her hands in defense on the other end of the line. "He is, he just doesn't usually open up and put himself out there to people he doesn't know really well. That's all."

Peeta ponders this for a moment. "Well then you'd be shocked to know that he and I plan to hang out when he comes back though town on his way back."

"Really," Katniss sounds genuinely surprised. "You know I am in shock and very impressed that you managed such a feat." Katniss laughs again.

"Well maybe you shouldn't be," Peeta says through a smile. "I did have to promise to show him around Capitol City and take him to a Mockingjays game."

"Oh so you're saying you had to bribe my friend to come back?" Katniss chuckles again and Peeta can't help but smile at her use of the word friend.

"Well, bribe might be taking it a bit far. After all, he did offer to buy the beers."

"Well, now I am absolutely stunned," Katniss feigns amazement. "If you were able to get Gale Hawthorne to open up in less than a day and offer to pay for beer, you've truly achieved something."

Peeta laughs out loud but is suddenly startled when Gale's phone alerts in his ear again indicating that the battery is critically low. He had completely forgotten that he was still using Gale's phone. Talking to Katniss was so easy. She made it easy to forget how long his day had been, how tired he was and how shitty his overall mood had been up until twenty minutes ago when he answered her call.

"Hey Katniss, This phone is about to die and I don't think I have a way to charge it. I'll call you right back from my phone." Peeta pauses for a moment and considers how presumptuous he probably sounds and works to back track a bit. "I…uh…figure we need to work out a way to get this phone back to Gale, right? He'll be in New York for two weeks. He's likely going to need it."

Peeta holds his breath and waits for her response and releases a long sigh when she agrees that Gale will indeed need his phone before the next two weeks is up.

"Good, then you'll allow it? The phone call, that is?"

There's a pause on the other end of the line for what seems like an eternity. "Yes, I'll allow it."

Peeta release a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding and secretly rejoices at her words. He ends the call and inputs her contact information in his own phone before calling her right back.

"Wow, that was fast," She says in greeting after just one ring.

Peeta can't help but laugh out loud at her comment and knows that he must seem like a complete fool to Katniss but he just doesn't care. If he gets to listen to her talk for even one more minute he'll go to sleep a happy man tonight. "Maybe, but I figure you must be getting tired of talking to me so I guess it's best to figure this out now so I can let you get back to your evening."

"You don't have to worry about that Peeta; I didn't have any plans tonight anyway." Peeta physically tenses at the way his name sounds drifting back to him through the phone. The thought that his name just fell across her lips sends a chill through him that resonates throughout his whole body. For the life of him, he cannot remember the last time a girl had this kind of effect on him.

"Peeta," Katniss says questioningly. "Are you still there?"

Peeta startles back to the present when she says his name again. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I drifted away for a second there."

"Should I let you go?"

"No! I mean, no…its fine. I was just looking around for my keys." It's not an exact lie, Peeta's been fidgeting nervously with his keys for most of their conversation. "I was just heading home anyway, no plans for me tonight either."

Peeta talks to Katniss the whole ride home and for a few minutes after toeing off his wet shoes and falling onto his bed. Katniss still doesn't know that Gale will call her but knows he'll call his mother for sure. Peeta thinks he hears a touch of resentment in Katniss' voice and can't help but wonder just what type of relationship she and Gale have. Gale had started to refer to her as his girlfriend earlier and the way he spoke about her clearly indicated that he cared about her, maybe even loved her? But Katniss seemed to have Gale relegated to the friend zone and her text message made it sound like she wasn't willing to be in a relationship with anyone, not even Gale.

"I'll call Gale's mom and give her your phone number. Is that okay, Peeta?"

Once again, Peeta has to jar himself to the present and has to hop up from the bed to clear his head. _What did she just say_?

"I'm sorry, Katniss. What was that again? Peeta is truly embarrassed now and is not just kicking himself mentally but kicking his shoes across the room as well.

"I said I'll give your phone number to Gale's mother…so he can call you…make arrangements for his phone? If that's alright, that is," she says.

"Oh sure," Peeta says but he also needs a reason to talk to Katniss again. She may not be completely free for him to pursue but he knows that he definitely wants to hear her voice again. He's got to think of a reason to get back in touch with her.

"Or you can find out where he is and call me back tomorrow?" Peeta winces as the words tumble out of his mouth. _God, I sound like such an idiot!_ "I may be more inclined to answer if I know there's a beautiful girl on the other end of the line." _Shit! Real smooth, Mellark!_ That was it, either Katniss was going to think he was a pompous piece of shit and completely blow him off or save his life and agree to another phone call tomorrow. He waited silently and he could feel the blood rushing to his ears.

"I guess I could do that..." Katniss' voice trails away slightly and Peeta prays that it's a good sign. Did he hear something slightly wistful in her voice or is she just highly annoyed and really good at hiding it? "It might be easier on Hazelle that way too. I'll see what I can find out and call you tomorrow. Say around lunch time?"

"That would be great, Katniss." Peeta knows he can't keep the smile that's spread across his face from projecting through the phone.

"Okay then. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Katniss' voice has grown soft and sweet. Peeta thinks he may hear a smile being returned to him. "Goodnight Peeta."

"Goodnight Katniss," Peeta says wistfully as he ends the call. He dive bombs back onto his bed, all thoughts of Gale long gone. He nestles into one of his plush pillows to relish in his tiny victory for just a few moments. "Best day ever!"

And it's looking like tomorrow may be even better still.


End file.
